First, I need to be clear. The fact that people are marching to yell things I consider completely unacceptable and carry symbols of organizations that Americans fought against saddens me beyond belief. It also angers me. I fear for my students, my teachers, and my own family. But we need to be prepared to talk to our students who need help understanding the dizzying array of social media and news. This is an attempt to address key issues and help people organize for helping their faculty, staff, students, parents and communities process this event.

Step 1: Explain the events in order

Friday evening (8/11/17), a white nationalist/white supremacy/alt-right group marched through the University of Virginia’s campus. Students who protested were surrounded by marchers. The students are being hailed as heroes for facing such a large group.

Saturday, a planned gathering of white nationalist group and those rallying in opposition turned violent. Protesters were shoving and in some cases brawling with alt-right group.

Step 4: History of faces being covered or uncovered

In 1890, when Jim Crow laws were codified, they stop covering their faces. “…as their prejudices had been successfully codified into law— meaning there was no need for lynch mobs to hide their faces and identities.”

Step 5: Hijacking symbols

Several signs at the rally showed the hockey team, Detroit Red Wing’s symbol. Many on social media were upset and expected the team to strongly denounce the use of their symbol.

Another issue is that a number of the people rallying were wearing hats or shirts with ‘#MAGA’ which stands for ‘Make America Great Again’. Understand that no matter what you personally feel about 45th president’s campaign slogan, co-opting the slogan to justify hate is not acceptable.

Additional References:

The video, “Don’t Be a Sucker” by the U.S. War Department, was created in 1943 to explain the rise of fascism. It was produced by the U.S. Signal Corps and distributed by Paramount Pictures for viewing in civilian movie theaters in 1943 and 1947.